The controversial internet, television and mobile phone company Tigo shared its latest financial results for the first quarter of 2024.
Revenue grew 8.6% driven by service revenue growth of 8.8%due to stronger currencies and organic growth of 3.8%, up from 3.2% in the fourth quarter attributable to large B2B contracts in Panama and a return to positive growth in Guatemala.
Tigo reports good results, but analysts expected more
Operating profit increased 70.6%, reflecting increased revenue and a 3.4% decrease in operating expenses, while EBITDA grew 24.5% (20.0% organically) despite $30 million dollars of restructuring costs incurred in the period.
Colombia EBITDA increased 50.3% (24.2% organically) with a record EBITDA margin of 36.5% despite an $18 million restructuring charge. Excluding this extraordinary event, Colombia’s EBITDA margin was 41.4%.
Operating cash flow increased 53.0% organically to $519 million, reflecting both strong EBITDA growth and a 38.9% reduction in capital spending primarily due to a slower phase of investments in 2024 compared to 2023.
Net income of $92 million in the first quarter of 2024 increased sharply from $3 million in the first quarter of 2023, reflecting the significant increase in operating profits.
Leverage decreased to 3.10 times at the end of March 2024 from 3.29 times at the end of 2023.
Mauricio Ramos, CEO of Millicom noted: “I am pleased to report that 2024 is off to a strong start, as the combination of key investments and strategic initiatives implemented over the past few years, along with savings from both phases of Project Everest, produced strong first quarter performance on many fronts. .”
The most important thing here is that analysts raised their earnings per share estimatessuggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards Millicom International Cellular following these results.
On the positive side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply that they will perform worse than the industry as a whole. There was also a nice increase in the price target, and analysts clearly felt that the intrinsic value of the business is improving.
Read more: The millionaire capitalization between EPM and Tigo to save UNE.
